It is widely believed in mainstream archaeology that the great civilization of Sumer, which was located in modern-day Iraq, was the first civilization that began in ancient Mesopotamia and later in Egypt. However, the discovery of several 7,000-year-old artifacts that resemble humanoid figures with reptilian features was a peculiar one made by archaeologists excavating at Tell Al’Ubaid in Iraq in the early 20th century.
According to archaeologists, Mesopotamia had a prehistoric culture known as the “Ubaidian Culture or Ubaidian Period” between 5500 and 4000 BC. The Jemdet Nasr and Uruk periods were defined at the same conference in Baghdad in 1930, where the name “Ubaid period” was also coined. This culture is said to have laid the groundwork for the Sumerian civilization. They developed architecture, agriculture, and irrigation technology. They lived in sizable village populations in mud-brick homes. (Source)
The Ubaid civilization, which is distinguished by a specific style of pottery, emerged in the flat alluvial plains of Southern Mesopotamia somewhere before 6200 BCE. Villages started to appear during this time as ancient people fished in rivers and the sea and farmed the land with irrigation (Persian Gulf).
Large T-shaped buildings, open courtyards, paved streets, and kitchen appliances were all features of Ubaidian residential architecture. The Metropolitan Museum of Art claims that some of these villages started to grow into towns, temples began to appear, and massive structures started to arise, such as in Eridu, Ur, and Uruk, the important Sumerian Civilization sites. According to Sumerian writings, Ur was thought to be the first city.
Archaeologist Harry Reginald Hal carried out the initial excavations at the Al Ubaid site in 1919. The Al’Ubaid site is a little mound with a diameter of around 0.3 miles and an elevation of two meters (6.56 feet). Ancient clay figures that are incredibly different and peculiar were discovered among the ruins and other fascinating items that the Ubaidian people left behind. These were anthropomorphic representations of both men and women. But the proportions of the body and head of those ancient figurines caused a real shock.
The majority of the figurines look to be shoulder-padded and to be wearing helmets. Other figurines were discovered holding a staff or scepter, maybe as the representation of authority and justice. The oddest of all is that some female sculptures hold babies sucking milk, with the youngster also being represented as a lizard-like creature. Each figurine has a different stance.
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What do these lizard statues symbolize then? Some archaeologists claim that the poses (such as the one of the nursing woman) do not imply that they are ceremonial artifacts. So why did these ancient people choose to depict people as having elongated heads and being reptiles?
At first, it was thought that these were just representations of the gods that the ancient people worshipped, which is not unusual. Snakes and reptile gods were revered by many ancient people, including the Sumerians themselves. Enki, the deity of water, wisdom, and creation, is one of the gods in the Sumerian pantheon. Enki sometimes appears as a hybrid of a man and a snake. He contributed to the development of a civilization that benefited all of humanity.
When the heavens above did not exist,
And earth beneath had not come into being —
There was Apsû, the first in order, their begetter,
And demiurge Tia-mat, who gave birth to them all;
They had mingled their waters together
Before meadow-land had coalesced and reed-bed was to he found —
When not one of the gods had been formed. (Source)
From the story, it is clear that no Sumerian pantheon of deities is responsible for creation, as even the gods themselves are part of creation. Sumerian mythology says that in the beginning, human beings were ruled by a “divine” non-human progeny. These beings were capable of traveling through the sky in round or cylindrical vehicles. Sumerian texts speak of gods coming from the heavens represented in the form of a reptile or serpent and on which different cultures of the world converge in the same sense. Mayans, Aztecs, Egyptians and other cultures are just some that mention these divinities or entities that came down from heaven and were represented in different megalithic artifacts. The question is, why reptiles?
Even the Hopi Indians of northern Arizona, who have lived in the area for more than 2,000 years, have legends about the “Snake Brothers,” who constructed underground cities in Arizona, Mexico, and Central America that go back hundreds of years. Additionally, the Gucumatz Toltec Mayan God was frequently described as a “serpent of wisdom” who assisted in awakening people.
There are legends about a race of reptiles among the Cherokee and other Native American groups as well. Therefore, it would not require a great leap of the imagination to believe that they could have done the same elsewhere in the world. A few of India’s scriptures and folktales refer to the “Naga,” reptilian beings that dwell underground and frequently interact with people. Indian writings also mention a group of individuals known as the “Sarpa,” a reptile race with snake-like noses and legs.
The reptilian humanoid known as the “Kappa” is the subject of legends in Japan. In the Middle East, where the statues were discovered, there is also a legend about a reptilian race, along with reptilian-looking individuals like Jinn, dragons, and serpent-men. A serpent race is briefly mentioned in the lost Book of Jasher.
